


The Nightmare Before Christmas

by Alice_Writes_Stuff



Series: These Cold Vienna Nights [3]
Category: Ashes to Ashes (UK TV)
Genre: Christmas Fluff, F/M, Friday The Thirteenth, Mixed up video tapes, Office games, POV Shaz Granger, POV Third Person, The Great Fenchurch East Waste-Paper Basket Game
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-25
Updated: 2018-12-25
Packaged: 2019-09-26 17:27:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,441
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17145974
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alice_Writes_Stuff/pseuds/Alice_Writes_Stuff
Summary: Christmas is coming to Fenchurch East, and Shaz is happy to spend it having fun, solving crimes and watching old movies with her boyfriend. Until an accidentally swapped tape brings back some painful memories, anyway...





	The Nightmare Before Christmas

**A.N- Merry Christmas! I meant to post this earlier in the month, but there was a lot going on. Anyways, here is my second Ashes To Ashes one-shot. It is a sequel to my last one, set about a month later. I hope you guys like it! Don't forget to read and review, and as usual, I own nothing!**

Christmas was coming up, and WPC Shaz Granger was in a far better mood than she had expected to be, given the circumstances. The circumstances being, on this particular day, a moderately bad hair day, and waking up with a mild hangover. She hadn't had time to do her make-up beyond a bit of lipstick and a dab of blusher, and she was perfectly aware that she looked a mess. But it was hard to feel as rubbish as she looked, when there was Christmas music playing on the radio, and some people had started decorating their desks, and the little counter on her desk informed her it was only fifteen days till the twenty-fifth.

She had arrived at CID earlier than she'd intended, and had managed to be one of maybe three people there- she'd seen at least one detective at his desk, and she'd bumped into DS Carling in the hall, but that seemed to be it. There was still a bit of time to fix her appearance- or at least, she hoped there would be. She'd hoped that nobody would notice, but after Ray had kindly informed her that she “looked like shit,” she'd realised that this wasn't going to happen.

She was able to fix her make-up, but there was little that she could do for her hair. She'd been trying to grow it out, and it was at a particularly awkward stage, all wispy and unpredictable. Sometimes she was tempted to just chop it all off again, but she'd committed to having a bob by next year, and she wasn't backing out now.

Once she'd managed to sort herself out, she returned to the office. A few more people had trickled in, including her boyfriend, Chris. At least, she assumed he was in- his jacket was draped over the back of his chair, and there was a stubbed out cigarette in his ashtray. There was still no sign of the Guv, or DI Drake.

Shaz went to sit back down at her desk, and tried to get back to her work. She hadn't been at it long, however, when a familiar shadow fell across her paperwork. Looking up, she saw Chris, armed with two mugs of tea, one of which he set down on her desk.

“You alright?” he asked, bringing his chair over and sitting down in front of her. “Ray said you looked a bit rough.” Well, that was an understatement if ever she'd heard one. Normally, she would've just let that slide. But with everything that had happened over the last few months, she'd started to feel a bit braver, less inclined to keep her mouth shut.

“He actually said I looked like shit. I mean, he wasn't wrong, but still.” Chris sighed, and turned to look at Ray. Part of Shaz wished she hadn't said anything- she hated to stir up trouble, newfound confidence or not.  
“You know what, it doesn't matter. I wasn't upset or anything, like I said, he wasn't wrong.”

“He still shouldn’t have said it, though,” he said, but didn't push the issue further. Shaz took a sip of her tea, and decided to change the subject.

“D'you wanna come over later? We can rent a movie, I'll get some ice cream or something.”

“Fab.” He looked like he was about to say something else, when Ray called over.

“Chris, get over here!” Shaz wondered what was going on. Somebody had placed a waste paper basket at one end of the office, and several detectives were gathered at the other end, near the Guv's door. She couldn't tell what they were planning from here, and she wasn't sure she wanted to know. Chris rolled his eyes and stood up.

“I'd better go see what he's after.” Taking his chair with him, he went over to where the others were. Shaz sighed, and decided to finish the rest of her tea before getting back to work.

As she went to return her mug to the kitchen area, Shaz wondered how much longer DI Drake and the Guv were going to take to get here. Part of her wondered if it was a coincidence that they were both absent, but she quickly dismissed the thought. When Alex had told her- under the strictest confidence, mind- what had happened at the Bonfire party last month, she had made it clear that it had been a one-off, and that nothing like that was ever going to happen again.

She made her way back to the office, wondering if they might have got here in her absence. Then she heard, through the door, a clear sign that they were not here.

“Once again, he gets it in the basket! That's another fifty points for Raymondo Carling, the man, the myth, the legend!” Shaz let out a long, exasperated sigh. _Lord Jesus, give me the strength not to punch any of these tossers_ , she thought, and opened the door.

It took her all of about ten seconds to realise what had happened. The detectives had set up a game, which involved throwing scrunched up balls of paper into the waste-paper basket. They'd even set up a point system. It could not have been more obvious that DI Drake and the Guv weren't in yet. The players had gone quiet when she first came in, but once they realised it was just her, they quickly resumed their game. Shaz went back to her desk, and watched them. The game looked ridiculous, it looked like a complete waste of time… it also looked like a lot of fun. So much so that, before she could think better of it, she had already scrunched up a piece of scrap paper on her desk, and was throwing it at the basket. She missed it, but she managed to catch the attention of the players.

“What's this?” Ray asked, in his commentator's voice. “A mysterious player has joined the game, and scored...” Here, he paused, checking where Shaz's paper ball had landed. “A twenty! Not bad for a first go, not bad at all. Would the mysterious player mind standing up?” Nervously, Shaz got to her feet. Everyone was staring at her, and Shaz wondered what exactly they'd been expecting. She was the only one here who wasn't involved in the game, and if someone else had come in, Viv for example, they would've seen him. Literally nobody else could've made that throw.

“I wanted to join in,” she said, by way of explanation. “And I knew you'd never have let me if I just asked, so I decided to take matters into my own hands.” In reality, she hadn't put that much thought into it, but she wasn't going to admit that.

“D'you still wanna join in?” Chris asked. Shaz nodded, but Ray shook his head.

“Oi, hang on a minute. You can't just jump in like that. Maybe next time, but you can't hop in now.” This was ridiculous.

“Why not? You can't have been playing that long. And I bet, if I were a bloke, you wouldn't even question letting me in. Seriously, what reason is there, other than my being a girl, why I can't join in?” They were quiet for a moment. Then Ray sighed, and nodded.

“Fine, just this once, you can play. Go put your name on the scoreboard first, though, and add your twenty points in. Then bring your chair over here.” Shaz went over to the scoreboard. She noticed the others had used their last names, so she followed suit, adding in a new column, with “Granger” written at the top, and a big “20” underneath it.

In the end, she didn't get another chance to add to her score. They kept playing for a few minutes, in which the other detectives took their turns. Then, it was Ray's turn again. He scrunched up his ball, lifted his arm, threw it. It looked like he was going to make the basket again… until the door opened. Until Ray's paper ball landed not in the basket, but in the face of DI Alex Drake.

“What the Hell is going on here?” she demanded. Nobody spoke at first. “Would you rather wait till the Guv gets here, and you can explain yourselves to him? Because I'm sure that he won't look too kindly on this.” That did the trick. Ray sighed, and got to his feet.

“Sorry, Drake. It was my idea. I thought it would be a bit of a laugh, seeing as it's Monday, and Christmas is coming up.” Alex didn't look even remotely surprised.

“Fine. Just get this mess cleaned up before the Guv comes in, and don't let this happen again.” Then she noticed the scoreboard. “Oh, for the love of God,” she sighed, and went over to examine it. “This board is supposed to be for investigations, not for keeping score in childish office games.” For a moment, Alex was quiet, reading the board. “Oh, Shaz, really?” she said after a minute.

“I know her score isn't great, ma'am, but she did get off to a later start compared with the rest of us,” Chris pointed out.

“Thanks, babes,” Shaz replied, smiling. Though her smile faded when she saw the disappointed look on Alex's face.

“Your individual scores are completely irrelevant. You've all wasted your time, and now you need to set this place to rights. I'm not going to do it for you, so get on with it.”

Shaz was silent as she got up from her chair, and as she moved it back to its position behind her desk. If there was one thing she hated more than stirring up trouble, it was the thought of disappointing Alex. Because even though Alex might be mad, even though she didn't always make sense, she was also her friend. Having her around was like having a big sister, one who believed she was capable of anything. Shaz didn't want to lose that.

It wasn't until she noticed Ray and Chris standing by the scoreboard that she said anything. Ray was about to try and wipe the board clean with the sleeve of his jacket, and Shaz saw it almost as her duty to prevent that.

“Oi, leave it!” She grabbed a cloth and a bottle of board cleaner, and made her way over to them.

“What's wrong with just wiping it off?” Ray asked, not stepping away from the board.

“For one thing, it doesn't always work completely. You'd probably still leave a lot of the scores on the board. For another, it would get all over your jacket, and it would probably be a nightmare to clean.” He still didn't move. “Look, just because you've got the common sense of a Neanderthal, doesn't mean we all do. Now move, and let me clean it properly.” Behind Ray, Chris looked like he was trying not to laugh.

“That's a good one,” he said. Ray turned to frown at him.

“Who's side are you on here, mate?” Chris held his hands up.

“I'm not on any side, I'm Switzerland.” Shaz smiled at that, then started cleaning the board, or at least cleaning the parts she could reach with Ray still standing in front of it. Eventually, he moved on, going to sit back at his desk, and Shaz was able to finish off the rest of the board. Chris was still there, waiting to move the board back to its previous position.

“I still can't believe you used to date him,” she said, then instantly regretted it. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have said that.” Chris just shrugged.

“It's fine. I can see why it would look that way, but at the time, it made perfect sense.” Part of Shaz wanted to talk about this further, but time was of the essence. Quickly, she made her way back to her desk. Chris did the same, once he'd put the board back in place. It was just as well- no sooner had he gotten back into his seat, than the Guv came in.

“Right,” he said, as he strode into the room. “I've just got word about an armed robbery over on Leadenhall Street. No casualties so far, but we need to act quickly. Chris, Ray, you come with me. Let's se e 'ow he likes being surrounded by three armed bastards.” It took a moment for what he'd said to sink in. By the time it did, Chris and Ray were already on their feet. She watched as Ray shoved a half-full pack of cigarettes in his pocket, as Chris shrugged his jacket on. As they were preparing to go, to face a mad man with a gun. True, they would have guns too- but still, all it would take was one shot…

“Chris,” she said, getting to her feet. She wasn't sure what she was going to do, she just…

“It'll be fine, Shazza. I've dealt with worse.” He was trying to reassure her, she knew that. But it wasn't working, not today. There was nothing she could do about it, though. The three of them were going, and she couldn't stop them.

“I know you have,” she said, wishing there was more time to talk. “Just, be careful, yeah?” He nodded. They headed for the door, and were just about to leave when Alex spoke up.

“I don't suppose I could come too?” The Guv shook his head.

“Not this time, Bolly. I reckon this one'd be a waste of your talents.”

“My talents?”

“Yeah. This isn't one for your psychiatry, or your old Shirley Holmes routine.” He looked at his watch. “Look, we've gotta go. If we need back-up, we'll say so. Otherwise, it's business as usual till we get back.” And with that, they were gone.

Once again, Shaz tried to focus on her work. Around her, the other detectives were doing the same, including Alex. The office was silent, until Alex spoke up.

“Shaz, would you mind taking a look at this?” Slightly confused, but wanting to make up for earlier, Shaz got to her feet, and went over to Alex's desk.

“What was it you wanted help with, ma'am?” Alex showed her a file she'd been studying, along with a page of notes.

“I've been trying to crack this case since yesterday. You don't have to solve it, but I thought having a fresh pair of eyes look it over might help. Bring your chair over, and we can have a look at it.” Shaz did as she was told, keen not to disappoint Alex again. Besides, it would be good to have something to occupy her mind, stop her from worrying about Chris. She wondered if that had been why Alex had asked her.

“I'll have a look at it, ma'am, but I don't know how much help I'll be.” Alex smiled.

“It's alright. Like I said, you don't have to crack it. I'm just trying to find a pattern here, see if I can work out where the criminal will strike next.” She frowned down at her desk. “There's got to be some connection, something I'm not seeing.”

The case detailed a series of four robberies, all unsolved. They looked completely random- one had involved a bakery, one a bed shop, one a jewellery shop, and one a brothel. For a few minutes, Shaz studied the notes. Her concentration was broken only once, when Alex said,

“Look, Shaz, I'm sorry I singled you out earlier.”

“It's alright, ma'am.” Another look over the notes, and, “I think I've got it,” she announced. “The connection, at least.”

“What is it?” Alex asked.

“It's the seven deadly sins. See, the bakery's gluttony, the bed shop's sloth, the jewellery shop could be envy, and the brothel, well, that's lust, isn't it?” She was quiet for a moment. “I mean, I could be wrong, that might not be it at all, but it was what came to mind when I'd 'ad a proper look at them.”

“You know, I didn't consider that.” Alex read over her notes again. “You might be on to something, Shaz. Which then raises the question, if this is the connection, where is he going to strike next?”

“Well, if he's already covered gluttony, sloth, envy and lust, that leaves him with pride, greed and wrath. And, if I were him, I'd go for greed next. It's an easy one, you just look for somewhere with a lot of money, or some other expensive or valuable thing.” Realisation began to dawn on her. He'd covered jewellery, he'd covered food, which left…

“The bank.” Alex said, and Shaz saw her own epiphany mirrored on her DI's face.

“You don't think it's the same one the Guv's at, do you?” It was a long shot- there were a lot of banks in London, after all- but it seemed like too big a coincidence. Alex picked up the radio, and was about to call the Guv, when the door opened, and all three of them- Chris, Ray and the Guv- came back into the room. In her head, Shaz jumped up, ran to them, threw her arms around Chris's neck, and probably snogged him for good measure. But, because they were at work, and because it had only been an hour or two at the most, and because there was nothing to indicate that anything bad had happened, she just stood up slowly, and smiled, and let that be it.

Though she did give the slightest nod, a signal they'd used many times over the last year and a half.

“Can I talk to you for a minute?” she asked. Fortunately, Chris took the hint- he didn't always- and left the room, Shaz following behind.

They went to the Lost and Found room, which was, as always, small and cluttered, but it was better than nothing. They didn't need much space, or much time for that matter. Just a little would be enough.

Shaz wasn't sure who kissed who first, if she was honest. It didn't matter, though. She leaned against the wall, wrapped her arms around Chris, and kissed him with all the love that she'd wanted to show earlier. It was strange, she thought. Two months ago, this wouldn't have seemed quite so important. She'd have still done it, but there wouldn't be the same feeling of urgency. But something had shifted between them after she'd been stabbed. Suddenly, this wasn't just some workplace romance, that may last, may not- either way, it didn't matter. Now, it felt more serious, like it could last forever, if they wanted it to.

She tried not to think about that night, tried to put it behind her. Tried to remind herself that it was over now, and she was safe, and alive, and really, she should stop letting it upset her. But, despite her best efforts, she couldn't always keep it from her head. She couldn't keep it from her head right now.

“I can't do this right now,” she said, turning her head away.

“Why not?” Chris asked. He sounded more confused than anything else, though there was a hint of concern in there too. For a moment, she was tempted to change her mind, to kiss him again. But before she could say anything, the door swung open.

“Christopher! Sharon! Am I running a police department here, or am I running a blooming dating agency?” They broke apart and stood in front of the Guv, though neither of them were able to look him in the eye. “I've been looking everywhere for you two.” He pointed at Chris. “You've got a report to fill in.” Now, he pointed at Shaz. “And DI Drake wants you, said you may have 'elped her solve a case.” They both apologised, and all three of them left the room.

“Did you really help solve a case?” Chris asked, once they were ut in the corridor.

“Yeah, I did.” She tried not to mind the fact that he sounded surprised- after all, it wasn't like this was something she did every day. Although, she wouldn't mind if it was, if she were being honest.

The rest of the day past relatively quietly. It turned out that the armed robber had been behind the other robberies that Alex and Shaz had looked at earlier. After that, there were no other major incidents, which was fine by everyone.

Later, Shaz went home. She had already decorated her flat, with several strings of lights, a small Nativity scene and a tree that was about half her size. She'd wanted a bigger one, but there wasn't room for it. As she brought through a couple of spare blankets and sat them down on the couch, she wondered what tape Chris would bring. Part of her had wanted to suggest that instead of watching a film, they go to the Blitz or something instead, since they hadn't been there in a while. That is, until she'd realised that they would probably be playing Christmas music there, and quite frankly, the thought of getting dressed up, and doing her hair and make-up and everything, so she could go and dance to Jingle Bells and Frosty the Snowman was too weird, even for her.

Eventually, she heard a knock at the door. She'd already set out the two bowls of ice cream, and was sitting on the couch curled up under one of the blankets. She got to her feet and approached the door, but she didn't open it.

“Password?” she asked, trying not to laugh. She knew perfectly well that it was Chris on the other side of the door, of course. But that didn't mean she couldn't mess with him a little.

“Password?” he echoed. “Shaz, come on, you know it's me.”

“Do I though?” she asked, but even as she spoke, she opened the door and let him in. “What did you get?” Chris produced a tape, which Shaz recognised at once. A Christmas Carol, albeit an older version than the one she was familiar with.

“Ray let me borrow it,” he explained, popping the box open and sliding the tape into the TV. At first, everything seemed normal. Until they saw the movie's title. It was not A Christmas Carol. It was not even close. It was Friday The 13th.

“Chris,” she muttered, resting her hand on his arm.

“I'm sure it'll be fine, Shaz.” And at first, it was. Perhaps the first five or ten minutes of the movie were perfectly normal- just a young couple at a summer camp, sneaking off to make out. The scene was eerily familiar, and Shaz couldn't help smiling at it.

Her smile faded a minute or two later, when the young couple were interrupted, not by a stern camp leader, but by a mysterious figure, armed with a knife. He stabbed the girl, and that was all it took. Shaz squeezed her eyes shut, to block out the sight of the blood, and covered her ears, so she couldn't hear the screams. But it wasn't enough.

“Shit,” she heard Chris mutter. “Shazza, are you alright?” She shook her head. “Come 'ere,” he said, and Shaz didn't need to be told twice. She let him hold her, and didn't protest when he switched the film off, and put the news on instead. For a while, they were quiet, just watching the TV.

“I'm sorry,” Shaz said eventually. Chris frowned at her.

“What are you sorry for?” he asked. “You didn't pick the tape, did you?” she shook her head. “There you go, you don't have anything to apologise for.”

“I know,” she said. “I just… It's been two months, I thought I'd be over this by now. I didn't think it'd still be a problem.”

“Well, you know what DI Drake's always saying, about how complex the mind is and all that. It's probably just fixing itself up at its own rate or something.” She nodded, a small smile creeping onto her face despite herself.

“You're probably right,” she replied. For another hour or so they stayed like that- watching the TV, and eating their ice cream. “You'd better not get any of that on my couch, Christopher Skelton. That's a Granger family heirloom, that is- it's been in the family for generations.”

“Seriously?” Carefully, he set his bowl back onto the table. Shaz rolled her eyes.

“Nah, I got it for a fiver from a charity shop when I first moved in here. I don't know how old it is, or where it came from.” Chris just sighed, and shook his head.

“I don't know what I'm gonna do with you sometimes, I really don't.” Even as he said it, he was smiling. Shaz smiled too, and kissed his cheek before setting her bowl down, and curling up under the blankets.

After another half hour or so, Chris got to his feet.

“It's getting late, I should probably head home.” He paused for a moment. “Are you gonna be alright here on your own?” As soon as he said it, she knew the answer- no, she would not be alright here on her own. The flat could feel too quiet at the best of the times, and this was definitely not the best of times. Plus, once she switched off the Christmas lights and everything, it would be too dark. And after tonight, the last thing she wanted was to be left alone in a too quiet, too dark flat.

“Would you mind staying?” she asked. “Just for tonight?” He nodded, and shrugged off his jacket, which he'd just put on.

Part of her wanted to let him sleep in her bed with her, but since that bed was only big enough for her, it was agreed that he'd stay in her spare bedroom instead. And that was fine, it was perfectly fine. All the same, though, Shaz would've been lying if she said that she hadn't had any nightmares- or if she hadn't been tempted to wander down the hall, and remind herself that she wasn't alone in the flat. Maybe, she thougt, before she finally drifted off, this festive season would not be quite as pleasant as she'd first thought it would be.


End file.
